Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Sub-Department

College of Arts and Sciences

First Advisor

John J. Lavigne

Second Advisor

Michael L. Myrick

Abstract

Cancer is a disease that affects millions of people each year and it is well established that early diagnosis is a key factor towards improving survival rate, with that in mind there is a great need for better diagnostics. From the earliest onset of cancer, changes can be detected in the type and amount of carbohydrates expressed by the cancer cells, i.e., aberrant glycosylation. This process results in differing glycosylation patterns that can be used to detect cancer. Aberrant glycosylation can also greatly affect the potential of cancer cells to metastasize and can be used to stage the disease as well. In order to study these unique glycosylation patterns, synthetic lectins have been developed that are used in a cross-reactive sensor array. This array has not only been shown to be able to differentiate several cancer cell lines among different types of cancer, but also by metastatic potential.

Specifically, the dissertation will describe 1) investigating the assay’s effectiveness with secreted proteins, rather than membrane proteins, to develop a fluid-based diagnostic, 2) the investigation of the metastatic reversion of an isogenic cell line, 3) the use of the synthetic lectin array to diagnose colon cancer in a longitudinal mouse study, and 4) the application of statistical methods to the sensor array data to draw biochemical information.

Rights

© 2016, Erin E. Gatrone

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